This invention relates to a small watercraft support apparatus for attachment to a much larger watercraft for supporting of a small powered watercraft.
Relatively large recreational watercrafts and the like often carry a dinghy for moving personnel or items with respect to spaced land or other watercrafts. A conventional dinghy generally includes an inflatable frame structure with manual powering unit, a small outboard motor or the like. Small row boats and sail boats may also be used as dinghies. The inflatable dinghies are relatively light weight devices and can be readily manually secured and raised into a carried position on the larger watercraft. Where a relatively large dinghy, such as a large row boat is used, some form of a powered lift mechanism is generally provided which lowers into engagement with the dinghy and then raised, with a powered or manually operated lift mechanism. Typical systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,450 which issued on Nov. 7, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,275 which issued Jul. 28, 1992. The '450 and '275 patents disclosed support structures for securing of the dinghy to a larger watercraft for releasably securing of the dinghy to the larger watercraft.
Although such dinghies have been widely used for many years, development of personal watercraft used for recreational and limited transport over a body of water provides a device now used as a dinghy on other watercraft. The personal watercraft generally consists of a hard plastic body or the like with motor driven jets for propelling of the watercraft are widely used for recreational purposes. Such personal watercraft devices have also become popular for use in place of a conventional dinghy.
A personal watercraft is a relatively heavy device and raising and placement on large pleasure watercrafts requires special powered devices for moving the device into and from a loaded position. Such systems are relatively costly, may be difficult to operate and tend to limit the application of a personal watercraft or similar powered watercraft for use as a dinghy and an auxiliary recreational vehicle or the like.
The small personal watercraft is a well known unit, having been developed from the original jet ski. Personal watercraft has developed into a recreational vehicle as well as a useful transportation vehicle for water travel, with the operator and passenger sitting on the watercraft. Although the present invention has been particularly developed with the use of personal watercraft, its application to other small watercraft will be obvious from the disclosure of the preferred application and embodiment.
There is therefore a significant need for a support structure or carrier which permits the easy loading and unloading of a personal watercraft or similar powered auxiliary watercraft while retaining secure support of the auxiliary watercraft in place for transport but the larger watercraft.